Waiting To Help

at

Kathmandu skies

Slightly Bemused writes:

I have a colleague flying to Nepal as part of the international aid response to the earthquake. His plane is currently circling south of Kathmandu as the congestion delays flights – he will land 3 hours late, by the look of things. I just took a quick screen grab off flightradar24.com I thought you might find interesting.
Kathmandu airport is struggling to cope with the sheer volume of flights in and out. Slightly larger than Knock airport [Co Mayo], it has not the parking areas nor the cargo facilities that it needs. So even as the needs are high, the ability to actually respond is limited by size. It’s a bit like an ambulance trying to get to an accident through a car choked street. Anyway, if anyone wants to know how they can assist, I suggest the excellent Dóchas website HowYouCanHelp.ie which lists which Irish agencies that are responding.

Earlier: Over Nepal

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28 thoughts on “Waiting To Help

  1. Lordblessusandsaveus

    Most helicopters are being hired for 10 times the regular price by rich egotistical Mountaineers all trying to get home to their huge houses in Europe and America.

  2. VictorRomeo

    It’s worth pointing out that there are only three organisations on the Dochas list that are actually Irish. Perhaps apart from the Red Cross given their governance model. The rest are fundraising offices for larger international groups.

    Also, a rather contentious issue in Nepal right now are the large number of faith-based entities who tend to proselytise as part of their mission.

    Faith based organisations on that list are;

    Trocaire – overseas aid wing of the Catholic Church; aid delivered thru umbrella body Caritas (local partners tends to mean parish network)
    Christian Aid – overseas aid wing of the Anglican Church/COI
    WorldVision – hardcore American evangelical organisation (these guys count souls saved above all – not a lot of folks know that. No Jesus, no aid)
    ChildFund – American org currently transitioning from faith-based Christian to secular

    So, just thought some of you would be interested in this….

    1. Stumpy

      Neither Trocaire nor Christian Aid proselytise.

      Agreed on the point re. most of that list being fundraising offices for larger int. bodies.

      1. VictorRomeo

        In fairness, I did not say they do, however when they say they work with local partners – in the case of Trocaire – that generally means the local Caritas entity and that generally means aid is routed via the local Church’s parish network. Caritas is the umbrella body for all Catholic Church overseas aid organisations and is based in Rome.

        In fairness, though if there was any faith based organisation I’d donate to it would either be Trocaire or Christian Aid. Trocaire’s position on Gaza a few years back was admirable.

          1. Tá Frilly Keane

            Don’t understate what VickieRomeo says about WorldVision and their bibles and Praise the Lord

          2. f_lawless

            First rule of Internet School: don’t accept anonymous assertions until they’re backed up with some substance.
            From the anti-Christian website ExChristian.net :
            “The organization (World Vision) ascribes to Red Cross standards prohibiting conversion activities….It’s great that World Vision doesn’t take an ‘or else’ approach to aid: listen to our message or else go hungry. Not all missionary organizations adhere to this ethical boundary. But to deny the conversion pressures of money and medical care or education is naïve. ”
            http://articles.exchristian.net/2009/10/many-dont-know-world-vision-has.html

      1. VictorRomeo

        That’s not really true. Plan Ireland is a federated member of the much, much larger Plan International. They will host certain programming capacity in Dublin – and participate in broader programmes. The may also ‘host’ a programme (Burkina Faso) but that will always be with a large level of support from other, larger, Plan entities. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to slight them. I think Plan are an exceptional organisation.

        I’m just ultimately making the point that there are only three ‘Irish’ orgs on the Dochas list – as in founded and based here….

        Does that matter? That’s up to a donor to decide. (as a donor myself, I believe it incumbent on me to fully educate myself as to who and where my donations go)

    2. f_lawless

      @VictorRomeo I’m an Irish ex-pat teaching English in Ecuador and your comment
      “WorldVision – hardcore American evangelical organisation (these guys count souls saved above all – not a lot of folks know that. No Jesus, no aid)”
      caught my attention because one of my students, Jose Luis Ochoa, is the head of World Vision in Ecuador and it seems very at odds to what he’s informed me about the organisation. Can you back up your assertion? I’ve tried searching the web and the only real article of any real substance I found on World Vision regarding proselytism was from a few years back on an anti-Christian Website by Valerie Tarico where she states:
      “It’s great that World Vision doesn’t take an ‘or else’ approach to aid: listen to our message or else go hungry. Not all missionary organizations adhere to this ethical boundary. But to deny the conversion pressures of money and medical care or education is naïve.” which directly contradicts what you’ve said – whatever about the ethics of proselytism is disaster zones.
      http://articles.exchristian.net/2009/10/many-dont-know-world-vision-has.html
      Are you just another guy with a chip on his shoulder spouting off on the internet?

      1. The People's Hero

        Ok. I’ll bite…. It starts with their mission statement;

        “World Vision is am Evangelical Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ, we serve alongside the poor and oppressed as a demonstration of God’s unconditional love for all people.”

        Now, what exactly do you think “Evangelicalism” means?

        In WVI’s case, the rest of their values can be digested here;

        http://www.wvi.org/vision-and-values-0

        This particular one stands out to me;

        “We look forward to a world where every child experiences Jesus’ promise of life in all its fullness.”

        Again, what do you think this means?

        Pretty much all faith-based aid agencies ascribes to Red Cross standards prohibiting conversion activities. Certainly if they want to receive grants and funding from governments and corporate donors who would be deemed secular. Further, there’s no way they’d be let into many of countries either.

        Now, I will also ask you the same question… Are you just another guy with a chip on his shoulder spouting off on the internet? The World Post can hardly be considered ‘anti-christian’.

        I’ll conclude by saying I spent 8 years overseas and witnessed their interactions with local communities many times allowing me to draw my own conclusions. Two different WVI Country Directors – seperatly – told me about their top ‘kpi’ – ‘souls saved’. Now, while I’m not doubting the work they do within the communities they support, I do however have a problem when aid is delivered with conditions – especially spiritual ones.

        1. f_lawless

          …em ok I’ll bite on that one!..was that response mean for someone else? It seems to be addressed to someone who was trying to defend Evangelicalism which I’m clearly not.
          “The World Post can hardly be considered ‘anti-christian’.” Fair enough, but again what’s that got to do with what I wrote? Did I mention The World Post anywhere?
          Going back to the essence of what I wrote, I said that VictorRomeo claimed that World Vision have a policy “No Jesus, no aid” which is apparently wrong. What you wrote only seems to back that up.

  3. VictorRomeo

    It’s worth pointing out that there are only three organisations on the Dochas list that are actually Irish. Perhaps apart from the Red Cross given their governance model. The rest are fundraising offices for larger international groups.

    Also, a rather contentious issue in Nepal right now are the large number of faith-based entities who tend to proselytise as part of their mission.

    Faith based organisations on that list are;

    Trocaire – overseas aid wing of the Catholic Church; aid delivered thru umbrella body Caritas (local partners tends to mean parish network)
    Christian Aid – overseas aid wing of the Anglican Church/COI
    WorldVision – hardcore American evangelical organisation (these guys count souls saved above all – not a lot of folks know that. No Jesus, no aid)
    ChildFund – American org currently transitioning from faith-based Christian to secular

    So, just thought some of you would be interested in this….

    1. Lu

      Excellent link.

      I would say it worth considering those points in any volunteering opportunity – disaster or otherwise. If you want to help go and find an organisation that needs your skills or pursue training in areas that are valuable to aid organisations. You might be surprised that many NGOs need accountants and hr professionals as much as doctors and nurses. It’s also worth noting that aid is not for everyone and is a very different experience to being a tourist in a poor country.

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